The Reunion

Original version

BBC Radio 4 FM

BBC Radio 4 is a radio channel that started transmitting on the 30th September 1967. It replaced BBC Home Service.

BBC Radio 4

Radio 4

Radio 4 (FM)

Factual: Life Stories

Series which reunites a group of people intimately involved in a moment of modern history

BBC Radio 4 LW

The Reunion: The Litvinenko Poisoning

The Litvinenko Poisoning

BBC Radio 4 - The Reunion, The Litvinenko PoisoningClose menu

Kirsty Wark's guests recall the poisoning of Russian exile Alexander Litvinenko in 2006.

Kirsty Wark's guests recall the poisoning of Russian exile Alexander Litvinenko in 2006 using polonium 210.

Kirsty Wark and guests recall the poisoning and death of Alexander Litvinenko in 2006.

For many, it’s a photo of the Russian exile that’s best remembered - it showed him lying in a bed at London's University College Hospital. His hair had fallen out, his skin had lost its colour and pain ravaged his face as he lay fighting for life. Litvinenko was a former KGB and later FSB Russian officer and long-time political opponent of Vladimir Putin’s Kremlin who now lived in exile in the UK.

He was the author of Blowing Up Russia, a book that claimed the FSB was behind a series of apartment block bombings in Moscow in September 1999. It is reported to have enraged his former boss, Vladimir Putin. Litvinenko had fallen victim to the deadliest poison known to man where just one millionth of a gram is enough to kill. The casual manner that it had been carried around London’s hotels and restaurants by his attackers led to widespread panic and fears of radiological contamination in the capital.

Whoever set out to kill Litvinenko would have expected him to die in a few days and the poison never be discovered. But he clung onto life for 23 days – giving doctors and Scotland Yard the vital time needed to discover the truth.  The murder led to a breakdown in relations between Britain and Russia and political indecision saw it take almost ten years for an inquiry to be held.

Joining Kirsty Wark to recall the events of that time are Alex Goldfarb, family friend of the Litvinenko’s and political campaigner; Sir Ken MacDonald, at the time Director of Public Prosecutions of England and Wales; Brent Hyatt, a Scotland Yard officer who interviewed Litvinenko; Yevgeny Kanevsky, who followed the story for the BBC World Service’s Russian Service; and, Marina Litvinenko – Alexander Litvinenko’s widow.

Presenter: Kirsty Wark
Producer: Howard Shannon
Series Producer: David Prest
A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4

Intelligent speech, the most insightful journalism, the wittiest comedy, the most fascinating features and the most compelling drama and readings anywhere in UK radio.

Accessibility links

Programme Index

The Reunion

The Litvinenko Poisoning

Genres

Brand

BBC Radio 4 FM

About BBC Radio 4